


The world cracks open for those willing to take a risk

by sunshinetoday



Category: The X-Files
Genre: Cancer Arc, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-26
Updated: 2016-12-26
Packaged: 2018-09-12 06:29:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,144
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9059563
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunshinetoday/pseuds/sunshinetoday
Summary: MSR prompt/47 - Things you said in the hotel room/





	

**Author's Note:**

> *Disclaimer: English is not my first language, please excuse my mistakes.*

He is back in his motel room, scanning through different television channels, trying to occupy himself. Nothing interests him, nothing can take away his thoughts of her partner. They were in the car, driving back from the crime scene when it happened again. Blood started to stream from her nose. Of course, it’s not the first time this happens and he keeps telling her to slow down. He keeps telling her they shouldn’t investigate too many cases, they should travel less. She doesn’t listen. She keeps insisting on ‘being fine’.

She is driving him nuts and slowly destroying him by making him a bystander of her disease. He can tell that she is overwhelmed and exhausted, the chemo taking most of her strength and sometimes even her willingness to live. The frequency of these nosebleeds is drastically growing while her weight is drastically decreasing. He doesn’t dare to say anything, but he does notice.

He knows everything, and he can do nothing. He can hear her during nights like this, throwing up in her hotel room. He can hear her during the day when she runs to the bathroom. He goes after her every time. Every time she sends him away. He tries talking to her, smoothen her and he really does try helping her but she refuses. She is so damn stubborn, sometimes it really does make him mad. The last time he went to her place, they argued like never before. She was shouting and swearing. He has never heard this voice of hers before and he prays every night that he will never hear it again.

That’s right. He ‘prays’. Or at least he is trying his best. He knows it’s more her way, believing in a higher power, but he has to try. He could not live with himself if he’d know that there was something he could have done but he didn’t. So every night, he is praying to God (or anyone really) who has the willingness to listen to him and has the power to make Scully healthy again. He keeps offering everything he has - including his life - in exchange of her well-being. No one seems to listen to him. No change in Scully’s condition so far. So here he is, cursing himself, every night because the best thing he can do for her, is to keep trying. That’s it. He is not even succeeding in anything but he keeps trying. He can and never will give up on her. It’s bad enough that she’s given up on herself.

He waits till he can hear her finishing up in the bathroom and going to bed. He gives her the space she needs to clean up after the incident in the car and after only he dares to check if the adjoined door is open. He slowly pushes the door and enters her room. She finds her under the big, dark blue bedsheets. She looks up at him and gives him an encouraging small smile.

He closes the door and sits down next to her on the bed. Before he has the chance to form any type of sentence, her eyes travel from his lips to his cheeks to arrive gazing into his eyes, begging for silence. He understands but before settling on her bed he quickly jumps back up to disappear into his room again. Only a couple of seconds later he reappears, holding a book in his hand. Her mouth gaped open when recognising the book.

 _“Mulder where did you get that?”_ – Her voice is so weak, it’s more like a whisper. He takes a seat on the bed next to her, his left hand is inches away from hers. The other hand holds up the book in front of her eyes.

 _“Oh, this book, you mean?_ – Smiles innocently at her.

 _“I found it on your bookshelf last week. I read the introduction and I quite liked it, so I kept it. I was thinking that maybe once I’ll have the chance to read it to you. Would you mind that, Scully? If I’d read to you tonight?”_ – Scully sits up on the bed, hugging her knees. 

She only looks up at him when asking her question. He is studying her face, noticing the wrinkles of surprise appearing on her forehead.

_“Why would you read this to me, Mulder?”_

_“Well, I did a bit of research and allegedly this book has a great atmosphere, teaches you some new Italian recipes and makes you wanna fly to Tuscany. I happen to know that you can go quite far to get your hands on a good bottle of wine, and I can do crazy things to have a delicious lasagne.”_ – He can see tears are welling up in her eyes, but she is still not turning away from him. 

 _“And so, I was thinking that when you get better we could take some holidays - and if the book really is that good – we could go to Tuscany and eat fresh, healthy Italian food, enjoy the best wines and the scenery. I’m pretty sure Skinner will even pay for our flight tickets if he can get rid of us for a week or two.”_ – This made her giggle, just like he intended to. 

Her sparkling, blue eyes meet again his eyes, and he is slowly reaching up to the back of her neck, pulling her closer to him. He kisses away the tears, whispers in her ear and she shudders against him.

 _“What do you think, Scully? Would you visit Tuscany with me?” –_ Her feelings are suddenly flooding her. She gently brakes down into his arms, hers are hanging onto his shoulders as they’d be the only thing keeping her above water. Her tears run freely from her cheeks down to his neck, making a path down on his T-shirt. He holds her there, against his chest, her head just above his heart. They stay like this for long minutes.

_‘He finally tried hard enough and she let him in. His heart is broken into a million pieces to see her like this, but he believes - no scrap that – he knows that this is just the beginning. From now on, he will be there, they will fight together and they will win. They always do.’_

After her breathing is back to normal, and her tears seemed to dry up he pulls her down onto the bed with him. He positions himself against the headboard and Scully is laying atop on his chest. With one hand he is caressing her back and the other is holding the book; Under the Tuscan Sun - Frances Mayes 

_“What are you growing here?“ the upholsterer lugs an armchair up the walkway to the house but his quick eyes are on the land._

_“Olives and grapes,” I answer._

_“Of course, olives and grapes, but what else?’_


End file.
